Simple list of supplies needed

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AmyT14

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Hi all,

So we are getting two Guinea pigs next week for my daughter’s birthday. We have a hutch and cover sorted, I just wondered if anyone could help with a simple list of other things, essentials and desirables!

I know we’ll need the following but could do with any other things (?toys, tunnels etc?), extra brownie points for links! and all tips welcome.

-hay
- sawdust
- pellet food
- water bottle
- food bowl (just one?)

Thank you in advance from an excited (but nervous) prospective Guinea pig parent!
 
Welcome to the Forum.

A good place to start would be here:

New Owners' Essential Information and Practical Tips Starter Collection

You will find lots of tips and helpful information there.

Depending on where you hutch is located and where the piggies are coming from please bear in mind that they may not be abel to go outside just yet.
If they are from indoors (rescue or pet shop) then they will not be able to deal with the current cold temperatures and you will need to wait another month or so, particularly if they are young piggies.
Night time temps need to be reliably above 15 degrees and even then you will probably need to add some fleece cosies and snuggle safe heat pads as well as making sure they have a well stuffed bedroom area.

I would also always have 2 of all critical items such as food bowls and water bottles, as these things tend to break at the least convenient moment!
 
Thank you very much.

They are currently kept outside and will continue to be kept outside, we have a thermal cover coming and have seen the heat pads online… will that be enough with sawdust and plenty of hay?
 
Sawdust is not suitable for guinea pigs, you may be talking about woodshavings though. They are quite different but it can sometimes be a bit confusing as some people use the word "sawdust" for both shavings and sawdust!
 
I wouldn’t get a bowl. Scatter feeding is a good way to encourage their natural behaviour and is a form of enrichment. If you feel you should then get two, as mentioned above.

You should also add digital kitchen scales to your list. They will need weighing weekly. Two exit hides - log bridges are pretty good. You can stuff bag inside them and put the snuggle pad there as well.

The other thing to do is to find a vet near you. If they’re not from a reputable rescue then book them in for a check a week after they’ve been home.

All very exciting! Do post photos once they’re home 😊 bear in mind since they’ve been living outdoors, you can’t bring them in and keep them inside. The temperature changes can play havoc with them.
 
Ooh ok thank you, yes that makes sense, what I’ve seen pictures of seems to look more like shavings than dust now you mention it! But that’s good to know as I’ve seen the word sawdust used a lot so I wouldn’t have known if I’d have tried to order online or anything. Thank you.
 
Siikibam said:
I wouldn’t get a bowl. Scatter feeding is a good way to encourage their natural behaviour and is a form of enrichment. If you feel you should then get two, as mentioned above.
Click to expand...
:agr: I haven't used a food bowl for years. I scatter feed their food.
 
Food wise I was recommended nuggets, am I right in thinking they can eat ‘human’ food too in terms of fruit and veg?

What would you recommend for the bottom of the hutch, anything other than shavings and straw?
 
AmyT14 said:
Thank you very much.

They are currently kept outside and will continue to be kept outside, we have a thermal cover coming and have seen the heat pads online… will that be enough with sawdust and plenty of hay?
Click to expand...

Lots of hay and heat pads are essential for outdoor piggies.

A thermal cover and potentially blankets underneath it in very cold nights.

I also don’t use bowls and instead scatter feed veg, forage and pellets amongst hay

AmyT14 said:
Food wise I was recommended nuggets, am I right in thinking they can eat ‘human’ food too in terms of fruit and veg?

What would you recommend for the bottom of the hutch, anything other than shavings and straw?
Click to expand...

Fruit is not recommended for anything other than a very occasional treat. It’s too high in sugar to be in the diet.

Suitable daily veg are lettuce, cucumber, coriander and bell pepper. Other veg items should be in rotation and moderation.
High calcium veg such as kale, parsley and spinach kept limited to no more than once a week.
Nuggets are one tablespoon per pig per day only.
Drinking water ideally is filtered to remove excess calcium.

This is our feeding guide
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Don’t use straw, it’s too sharp for piggies and not edible.
You use an absorbent substrate such as shavings and then top it with hay. I sometimes put newspaper under my substrate. My hutches are all lined with Correx or plastic sheeting to protect the wood.
 
You’ve done the most important thing and found the best Guinea pig resource there is! I came here before I got my pair and realised all I thought I knew (after a long chat with a vet friend) was old/incorrect and so I began again. My biggest tip for you is to read this forum from beginning to end! Each chapter of the forum has a series of green sticky posts at the top that contain all the essentials you need. Definitely begin with the one Swissgreys linked you to but personally once I started reading I found I read all of them, food, accommodation, bonding, piggy whispering, medical.

Enjoy, piggies are lovely little creatures and give back to you what you put in. It can be tricky to start with when they are scared as it doesn’t feel like they give you much and it’s easy to give up on them but show them lots of love and they will reward you 😁
 
Hi and welcome! So good of you to do research beforehand! Hope everything goes well, your daughter is a lucky girl:luv:
 
One important thing to remember and let your daughter know is that piggies are prey animals and will be scared first of all. As much as she will want to cuddle them straight away she really shouldn't. They need to get to know where they are and the sights, smells and noises of a new place. They need to settle for a good week and will hide whenever anyone goes near them. This doesn't mean that they don't like your daughter (often children think this) it means they are frightened. Have a read of this link, this will help explain things for you from their point of view. It applies whether you have bought your piggies or adopted them.

Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs
 
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Well done for doing your research. Please do have a good read of the threads that have been linked. They are full of very helpful advice and photos. And our members are always happy to answer questions. If you are planning to keep outdoor piggies please do pay particular attention to methods for insulating the hutch and keeping the piggies warm inside during winter and keeping them cool enough in summer. There are plenty of ideas in our guinea pig info ssections.

Cages And Hutch Guide

Hot And Cold Weather Care Guide
 
Not sure if you’ve mentioned what sex the piggies are?
Make sure, if they are boys, that they have a big hutch - 6ft is recommended as boars need more space

As Vicki has mentioned keeping cool in summer is the bit which I, as an outdoor piggy keeper (they live in a shed) find hardest. Keeping them warm in winter i find more manageable (but mine do have the protection of the shed and lots of insulation) but summer is a bit of a nightmare. Every summer they need to come indoors to be able to keep their air space below 25 degrees
 
My boys are indoor piggies, but you have experts' opinions already.
One thing I just want to say is that my boys get romaine lettuce daily and other herbs, veggies, fruits in rotation.
 
Hello and welcome
It’s great you are getting prepared for your new additions to your family, you will always get really good advice on here
 
Thank you everyone. I really am trying to get my head around it all.
What about something for a bed? They like to hide don’t they?

And ‘play’ things?!
 
AmyT14 said:
Thank you everyone. I really am trying to get my head around it all.
What about something for a bed? They like to hide don’t they?

And ‘play’ things?!
Click to expand...

Wooden hides are needed for outdoor piggies. One per piggy and each hide needs to have two exits so no piggy can get trapped inside it by the other. I use bendy wood bridges for hides.
Nothing plastic because of the heat.
Nothing fabric as fabric bedding cannot be used outside.
They will also use big piles of hay to snuggle up into.

There is very little point in buying commercial toys. The only thing I buy for my lot are carrot cottages and hay cubes - they love those. Most piggies will not be interested. For them enrichment is big piles of hay. You can hide their veg and pellet portion amongst the hay so they have to forage for it.
Paper bags with the handles cut off, stuffed with hay.
Toilet roll tubes (slit lengthways so there is no risk of getting their heads stick) and cardboard boxes stuffed with hay.
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
 
AmyT14 said:
Thank you everyone. I really am trying to get my head around it all.
What about something for a bed? They like to hide don’t they?

And ‘play’ things?!
Click to expand...
How big is their hutch?
They do like to hide, but you also don't want it to be overly cluttered, particularly if they are younger piggies because they will enjoy being able to run around a bit too.
 
Thank you all again!

Hutch is 6ft two storey so hoping it will be enough space for lots of snuggly places as well as some room to exercise. They’re a few months old and female.
 
Are there any particular brands of shavings/hay etc that you recommend?

Any particular websites that are good for supplies?

I have been recommended a local independent pet shop but just wondered if there’s anywhere specific online that’s good or just the usual Amazon etc.
 
I like the snowflake woodshavings although I can’t easily get them. With regards hay it may depend on your piggies. I give mine meadow or ings. The boy has had timothy in the past, but it wasn’t as stalky as what I see.

I get mine from hay and straw but there are other be places - timothy hay.co.uk, haybox which has a subscription option so your hat comes regularly. There are others but I don’t know them off the top B of my head. You could also see if there is a farm nearby where you could get bales of hay.
 
Nature's Own Pets do my favourite wood shavings. I don't know why those specifically, but they're some of the best I've used. As for hay...hah. That'll depend on what they'll eat and they can be right fussy sods about their hay. It might take a while to find something that suits both them and you.
 
Welcome to the forum.
Your head must be spinning with all the advice you’ve been given already.
It bodes well for your piggies that you are doing so much research first.

Thinking of your daughter, one idea May be to suggest that every day she sits and talks to the piggies.
She can tell them about her day or even read a book to them.
This will help them get to know her voice and begin to trust her, especially if the time is associated with food like a sprig of coriander.

We look forward to pictures
 
Sorry, another quick question as we approach becoming piggie parents! Is there a specific way to set up a hutch in terms of ‘areas’?! Sounds like a silly question written down!
I will do the most enclosed space for sleeping and seems like most people spread food around so they can forage but is the rest of the space essentially just anything anywhere?! They pretty much toilet anywhere don’t they? Anything you can do to encourage this in a specific area? (I believe this is less likely for poohs?!)

Thanks everyone, really invaluable advice so far. X
 
Having hay in a tray can encourage them to poo in there. However, they will generally poo everywhere. Given you’ll have to stuff the hutch with hay, there will be poo all around.

My hutch has a smaller (bedroom) area and then the larger area. I tend to feed (veg) in the bedroom area and this is what the piggies are also used to. You should still put two hides in the larger area as well. Remember to make sure they all have two exits.
 
What size is your hutch?
What sex are your piggies?

You can use a tray try to to encourage them to urinate where they eat but you are going to find poops are going to be found everywhere.

I actually remove the dividing wall in my hutches so there is free flow all the way around the hutch. Everything (hides, hay) are all around the hutch. When my oldest two were youngsters the dividing wall into the bedroom area created an issue with one wanting to come in and one wanting to go out.
 
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